A new study from MoneySuperMarket reveals the costs involved with growing a family

See how living, shopping, and transport increase in cost from one person’s £12,160 through to a six person family at £79,400.

Having two children can be as much as £34,300 more a year than a person living alone,

Adding to your household can be an exciting step in your life, but it can come with unforeseen costs. To help Britons understand how much it can cost to increase the size of your family, MoneySuperMarket has conducted research that looks at a series of metrics including home purchase, energy and water bills.

Regular Payment Increases

To cover all regular payments like bills and rent, a person living alone has to spend about 45% of the average UK salary of £27,195.[1] However, living with a partner can actually cut down the costs, as bills only slightly increase from £12,161 to £13,248, but two salaries can contribute to paying them back.

With each child comes a series of costs, such as £1,065 a year just in energy bills, food, and rent. For those who choose to send their children to private school, it can cost as much as £13,194 annually per child. Other examples of costs can include:

Rent – Monthly rent for a one-bedroom house is an average of £840.This increases to £962 on average once you add a second bedroom – which will be needed as soon as your first child is able to sleep in a room alone. The child benefit (£20.70 a week for the first child and £13.70 for each child beyond this) pays for only 17% of the difference.[2]

Bills – Having your first child can also incur a difference of around £212 on average to your energy and water bill through extra usage. However, Child Benefit provided by the government is enough to cover this and still have an excess of £864 a year to put towards other costs.

Food Shop – The average weekly food shop for a couple and their child is about £42.70, as opposed to £37.20 for a couple. As a result, the £20.70 a week Child Benefit can go a long way towards providing much-needed support.

Buying For The Kids

It’s not just regular payments that increase with a bigger family. Two major expenses that you might have to consider with larger families are housing and a new car.

While a standard 5-seater Ford Fiesta should suffice for families of up to four, a 7-seater will be needed if you’re going to transport the entirety of a five person family or larger. And if you’re buying new, that can be a cost difference of over £10,000.

In terms of houses, if you’re looking to buy with the intent of having more children, an upgrade can set you back by over £100,000. The average cost of a house can range from £168,000 for a one-bedroom house to £585,500 if you’re buying bedrooms for four children.

Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket says,

“There are numerous factors that households across the UK have to consider when looking to increase the size of your family, whether it’s buying a new car or house. It is therefore important to see what you can do to bring these costs down, with household bills being a good place to start.

“Many consumers across the UK are unaware that they are currently overpaying on their energy bill, due to the fact that they are on an expensive standard variable tariff. For those who are considering increasing the size of their family, we urge them to take control of their finances and shop around for a competitive, fixed rate deal, either with a Big Six or new supplier. This means that the cost of each unit of gas and electricity you use is fixed for an agreed term – even if your supplier decides to increase prices. Switching could not be simpler - it literally takes five minutes online and you could save £250 or more. It’s a quick and easy way to bring down your bills ahead of your new arrival”.

For more costs of growing your family, and an insight into how it’ll affect other features of your life, check out the full study on the MoneySuperMarket website here